Education

Master Board Certification

Julie Sprague graduated from the State University of New York at Cortland with both a B.S.E. and M.S.E. degree.She taught physical education and health for thirty years, with ten years at Immokalee High School and ten at Gulf Coast High School.
She was the department chair at IHS for seven years and the department chair at GCHS for three.She coached a variety of sports for twenty years.
She founded the first Medical Academy in Collier County at Gulf Coast High School.
In 2003 she was selected as the Collier County High School Teacher of the Year.
She has taught at the pre-school through undergraduate level over the span of her teaching career.
Julie is active in the community, currently serving on the Board of Directors of the Immokalee Multicultural Multipurpose Community Action Agency.She also serves as the school board liason to the Collier County Head Start program.She formerly served on the Board of Directors for the Collier County Education Foundation, the American Heart AssociationCommunity Board, coordinated walkers for the AHA Heartwalk and coordinated a fundraiser for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.She has volunteered for the nonprofit organization FriendsTogether, Inc. which assists HIV/AIDS infected and affected children for the past fifteen years and has completed numerous 300 mile/3 Day bicycle rides from Tallahassee to Lakeland to raise funds for the group.
In addition she has climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro twice to raise awareness and money for the group.
While in Africa, she also did medical mission work for a month.

Julie holds the Certified Board Member designation from the Florida School Boards Association and holds Master Board Certification as well.

Julie was first elected to the Collier County School Board, District 4, in November of 2008.
She was re-elected in 2012 without opposition.

If Gulf Coast High School teacher Julie Sprague had any questions about whether to run for school board, a fortune cookie could have sealed the deal.

Sprague carries around the cookie's message, "Struggle as hard as you can for whatever you believe in," as she campaigns for the District 4 School Board seat.

"I am not a politician, but I can't stand back and not help the kids," she said."I have a different type of qualification than anyone else on the board has."

Sprague will face Mark Swanson in the Nov. 4 election for the District 4 seat, which is currently held by School Board Chairwoman Linda Abbott.

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Sprague, 54, said she is running because she would like to see someone with classroom experience on the board.

"I have spent 30 years in the classroom, 20 of them in Collier County.I know what goes on in the classroom.I have taught at every level from prekindergarten to college," she said."I think I have a wide range of knowledge that I could bring to the board."

Sprague has taught health at Gulf Coast High School since 1999 and was the wellness/medical academy director from 1999 to 2004.Before moving to Gulf Coast, Sprague taught health and physical education at Immokalee High School, where she also served as the department chair and the volleyball and boys' tennis coach.

"I know what the reality is in the classroom.I think many of the decisions that are being made are done without an understanding of what the impact is going to be on the kids," she said."The scheduling issue is a perfect example.Alternating day is going to affect the lowest quartile of kids who do not deal with change the way the others do."

Sprague said she understands there are financial issues that will have to be dealt with, but she believes the district could be spending money more efficiently.

"I think the priorities are not the way I would like to see them," she said."The kids should come first and I think there have been changes made that don't put kids first."

Sprague cited a district decision to remove exceptional student education assistants from some ESE classrooms as one of the changes that will negatively effect children.

Sprague said she would also like to bring respect to the board.

"It is about bringing stability, respect and integrity back to the board," she said.

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Sprague said she is ready to answer questions from the public.Community members with questions, can e-mail her at VoteSprague08@aol.com.

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Good luck Julie!

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Julie, please try to bring a sense of respect for teachers and what they do to the school board.The present board, unfortunately, treats them as second class citizens and demeans their very noble profession.Remember: God only had one Son and he was a teacher.May He smooth your paths and light your way!